Hot Topics - Part 1 - Network Speed and Email Latency

As of July 1st, 2009, the school system changed service providers back to Education Networks of America (ENA). Many of the problems encountered last school year were a result of our network perameters that did not mesh with the other provider correctly. In order to meet the federal funding timetable, known as E-RATE, the connections at all our locations were temporarily setup with DSL level speeds at that time. Because of this lower connectability speed, many have been experiencing latency when attempting to access email via the internet, especially during normal business hours. This will be corrected later this week, when the Central Office will get a fiber connection installed. As of yesterday - Friday, July 18th - this has almost been completed. To put it in perspective, the Central Office had a binded T1 connection. In terms of speed, T1 lines operate at 1.5 Mbps. Fiber transmits data at speeds far exceeding current DSL or cable modem speeds, typically by tens or even hundreds of Mbps.

The plan over the upcoming school year is to bring fiber connections to all our school locations. This will bring us up to par with current technology capabilities to access content online and have similar infrastructure to other local school systems in the area, like Davidson County.

We appreciate you patience and support as we build and improve our infrastructure in what we have titled "Revitalization Project."
Tech Dept.